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Monday, November 18, 2013

Trafficked, sold twice in Rajasthan

GUWAHATI: It took almost three painful months for Fatema (name changed), who is in her Twenties, to free herself from the clutches of a trafficking racket in Rajasthan. Trapped in August, she returned to her family in the Basistha area here a few days ago, after Guwahati Police arrested a gang of traffickers from Rajasthan.

"My husband took me to Rajasthan saying that we will be looking for jobs there. Then, he told me that one Jahidul Ali will provide some job and asked me to visit him. After that my husband fled and I came to know that I was sold for Rs 60, 000. Jahidul sold me to one Mohar Singh who again sold me to one Raju Singh for Rs 70, 000. However, I managed to escape and alerted police and my brother in Guwahati," said a teary-eyed Fatema. She was beaten, tortured and molested during this period.

City Police took help from their counterparts in Rajasthan and arrested her husband, Jahidul, Mohar and Raju on Thursday. Police said several gangs from Kota, Mewat, Gogamari and Alwar in Rajasthan are active in the region.

"The men have revealed that girls from Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam are on sale for anything between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 in Rajasthan. Most of them are sold for forced marriages, bonded labour and sex trade," said a policeman here.

However, not everyone is as lucky as Fatema. Figures available with the state police revealed that about 2,740 women have been kidnapped in Assam between January and September this year, with the monthly figure being about 304. According to a report of the National Crime Records Bureau, at least 3,360 cases of kidnapping of women were recorded in Assam in 2012.